


i will follow you

by constellationsofsentences



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Greek Myths, M/M, sort of suicide???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 14:27:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7761421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/constellationsofsentences/pseuds/constellationsofsentences
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[mythology au] for pynch week day 1</p>
            </blockquote>





	i will follow you

The sunlight peeks through the branches in uneven patches, casting an ethereal light on the surroundings. For Adam, these trees used to mean protection. The meant home. Now, he's not so sure. There is a new texture to them, something shattered, something empty. This is no longer home. 

The cave lies hidden among moss and overgrowth, dingy and dark. Something inside of Adam screams at him to go back, return to where it's safe. But Adam pushes on, because he knows what- who he can save if he does. So he makes his descent, breath held in anticipation. The cavern is damp, and Adam can hear faints shouts of terror from further down. He grits his teeth, forces his frozen body forward. It's hard, and every muscle in Adam's body is screaming at him to turn back, but Adam will not. He will do this, because he dares not think of what will happen if he doesn't. He is driven by love, love for the dreamer who lies ahead. Love, and hope that he can bring his dreamer back. Bring him home. 

At the end of the tunnel, there is a glowing light. It's ominous and an eerie green colour, and seems to come from all angles, even the murky water stretched out in front of him.  
A boat lies in the water, occupied by a solitary ferryman, and Adam suppresses his fear and heads towards it. The ferryman turns towards him, and his skin is grey and peeling and, in some places, Adam can see the bone. He has scars all over, his face is mauled and gruesome. But the worst part, the absolute worst, are his eyes. Empty, blank, dead. Lifeless, like the inhabitants of this terrible place, they engulf Adam in all the pain he has felt these past months. Adam pushes outwards, tries to clear his head.  
"You aren't supposed to be here," the ferryman remarks, before Adam can speak. His voice is gravelly, reminding Adam of loss. There is no escape from his pain, he thinks. 

"I can give you these," Adam whispers, and opens his bag. Inside, jewels glisten with a powerful glow, expensive and, in this place, powerful. The ferryman's mouth twists in a feral grin, and one gnarled hand reaches up and snatches them from Adam's grip. The other makes a gesture for Adam to get in.  
The boat is decaying, covered in maggots, and Adam chooses not to sit. Instead he stands, hands intertwined, and thinks of life, of living.

-

_Hands entwined, faces mere centimetres apart. Heavy breathing, rain pouring down necks, dripping off eyelashes. Noses touching, eyes closed. They are endless, these moments, and Adam lives in them. The feeling of skin on skin, of red-hot mouths and silent conversation. Of lying together under the warmth of the moon, of the stars providing hope, and warmth. Of midnight trips and waterfalls at night, of assurances of safety and providing warmth against the cold. He yearns for the moments when eyes would meet and they would fall into each other. There is no end to the longing, the want that Adam feels to be able to relive these moments, but to relive the good is to relive the bad, and Adam is not sure he can do that again. _  
__

-

The boat rocks slightly as it hits the bank, and Adam is pulled from his memories. There is nothing to do, he thinks, but keep going, and so he does so, inclining his head at the ferryman as he leaves, and sidestepping a cobweb as he continues his descent. He can feel the wrongness in the air, and he clings to it, refuses to let himself ignore it. He does not want to lose it, or lose himself.  
Adam stumbles on a rock, looses his footing, and begins to fall. He slides down the sloping tunnel, fast and perilous. The tunnel is damp and smooth enough to become a kind of slide, and he wonders if what lies below planned it that way. From what Adam's heard, probably. He closes his eyes, and leans back, there is no point in fighting this, and for the first time, almost allows himself to hope. Hope is bad, he knows this, knows it from years and years of heartless torture, but Adam can't help himself. In fact, he thinks, perhaps it was hope that led him to seek out that oracle, perhaps it was hope that brought him here. Here, so close to bringing his love back, to saving them. To saving himself.  
And, as Adam slides down a dingy tunnel in a cave miles underground towards an awaiting beast, he finally allows himself to smile.

The tunnel opens out in a vast chamber, laden with jewels and what look to be bones. In the centre; a throne, bedecked with gems that seem to suck all attention to them, and on it sits a person, with sharp cheekbones and haughty eyes. His hair is greased back, and he is wearing a dark robe. He smirks at Adam, and Adam scrambles to make a bow. He is waved off with a bony, ring-bedecked hand. "Lord Hades," Adam mutters, and the man's grin spreads. "Why are you here with me today?" he asks, like the trip was not dangerous; like Adam was not risking his life by being here. Adam keeps his face stoic, an attempt to feel powerful. "Of course," Hades says, and bares his teeth. "Ronan." And in that moment, Adam stops breathing. 

-

_Sunset by the lake, just like any normal day. Lying together on the bank, eyes closed, love secure._

-

"So," Hades eyes glint, dark and unforgiving, "what can you give me? The last person played some music, but I doubt you can do that."

-

_Getting up, when the sun goes down. The sound of scuttling legs and snapping pincers echoing around. A scorpion emerging from the trees, giant and malicious._

-

"Anything," Adam says. "I'll do anything."  
Hades smiles.

-

_Freezing up, watching the creature advance, stinger at the ready. Adam watches as his partner advances, ready to attack, but the scorpion gets its stinger in first._

-

"Are you ready," Hades asks, "to face your biggest fear?"  
_No,_ Adam thinks, but he nods. He is marched to a dark room, filled with shadows. They loom above him, and Adam's eyes are quickly drawn to one, flickering, almost. He watches as it moves out, into the centre of the room, until a spirit stands before him, and it is a spirit Adam knows.  
Ronan.

-

_"Ronan!" Adam lets out an anguished cry as Ronan crumples. "No, no no no no." The tears begin to fall freely, and Adam feels as if he's being ripped apart. He rushed to Ronan, cradling his head as the tears drop down Adam's nose._  
"Hey," Ronan whispers, "Adam." He pauses to take a gasping breath, and another, each one getting shallower and shallower until it stops, and Ronan stops.  
"No," Adam whispers, and he rests his forehead against Ronan's. "No."

-

Ronan looks awful, empty and haggard. His smile is vicious and heartless, eyes holding a malicious stare.  
"I never loved you," he says, and Adam makes a choked noise. ****  
"This isn't real," he mutters, "not real, not real."  
"Oh, but how," Ronan smirks triumphantly, "could someone like _me_ , ever love someone like _you_? Do you honestly think I loved you? You're nothing better than a _beggar _."__  
At this, Adam turns to Ronan, the pain etched all over his face.  
"Ronan," he says quietly, and then again, louder. "Ronan."  
"Yes?" Ronan- no, the spirit- says cruelly.  
"Please," the word is soft, imploring. For a moment, the spirit falters. "I need you."  
Behind the spirit, something begins to glow. The spirit watches Adam's gaze, and its eyes widen as it turns around. There, in front of his eyes, Ronan- the _real_ Ronan- is watching Adam, eyes determined.  
"Goodbye," he says to the spirit, and Adam watches as it explodes. Ronan turns to Adam, and Adam braces himself for more, but all he says is, "How did you know?" and the joy and relief rushes to Adam's head.  
"That it wasn't you? Its hair was too long," Adam smiles slightly, and Ronan watches him, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

There is a bang as Hades flashes in, smile more grim than before.  
"Fine," he says, "if you get all the way back without looking behind you, I'll let him go."  
Adam falters for a second in disbelief, before he nods.

The trip up the tunnel is hard, but Adam is so concerned with not falling that he doesn't even think about turning around. It's not until he climbs into the waiting boat that he allows his mind to return to Ronan. What if Hades was lying? What if he'd just gone through all that and had still failed to save Ronan? Adam couldn't help it- maybe it wouldn't be noticed. Slowly, tentatively, he turned around, and there was Ronan. But, as soon as they made eye contact, Ronan began to fade. At first, Adam thought he was imagining it, because he couldn't have just done that. It was a thousand times worse hat the first time, because it was Adam's fault, it was _his fault_.  
"Adam," Ronan whispered, and then he was gone. Adam sank to his knees on the boat, ignoring Hades' laughter, and stared at the spot where Ronan had been just seconds before. No. This could not be happening, not again. 

When he notices the scorpion at the cave's entrance, Adam makes no hesitation, but walks to it with open arms.

**Author's Note:**

> :)


End file.
